Cast (Note: each person's job is determined by abilities they use in the story in most cases)

Eldena - Red Mage/Summoner

Thane (random) - Beastmaster/Sage

Shanon (random) - Assassin

Marche Radiuju

Ritz Malheur - White Mage

Doned Radiuju

Cid Randell

Llednar Twem - Biskmatar (Mageknight, think Paladin + Totema)

Remedi Randell

Ezel Berbier - Hermetic

Pallanza - White Monk/Gladiator

Shara - Sniper

Montblanc - Animist/Time Mage

Chapter 1: Alone

Marche sat up in bed-his bed-with a slow smile spreading across his face. In his dreams, he'd feared that this would all be a dream. He had dreaded waking up still in Ivalice, still being a clan leader, and still being hunted down by every clan itching to make a name for itself. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed those things, but each of them would've meant that he had failed to restore his home of St. Ivalice to its rightful state.

As far as he could tell from looking around his room, the only thing that remained of the magical world of Ivalice was his memories. But as familiar as the scene was, there was something wrong with it. It only took Marche a few seconds to realize what was wrong: the house was far too quiet. If the clock on his bedside table was right, it was a few minutes after ten in the evening. But if that were true, then at the very least, he should've been hearing the wispy breathing of Doned from the other bed. There was no breathing, simply because there was no Doned.

Marche didn't panic as soon as he realized that his little brother was gone. It was possible Doned had suffered a relapse and was at the hospital again, or that a routine therapy session had run a little late. Normally, it would've been impossible for Marche to sleep through either of those, but he had been exhausted from his adventures. His mother had probably left a note in the usual place on the table, explaining what had happened and if he should wait up for them or not.

This, however, was not the case. Marche searched the house from top to bottom, but there was no note. More importantly, there was no sign that his family had even been in the house at all for some time. The trash hadn't been collected and taken to the curb, the dishes were piled up in the sink, and there was a large stack of clothes in serious need of washing. For his mother to ignore those chores, something must've been really wrong with Doned. It was possible she'd simply forgotten to leave a note, but over the course of several days, she should've thought to come home or at least call…

Marche slapped his forehead and ran into the living room. Sure enough, the red light on the answering machine was blinking, indicating new messages. Feeling like a fool, he hit Play and sighed in relief. He had no way of knowing that what he would hear next would only leave him feeling even more confused.

"Marche, are you there?" demanded Ritz's voice.

For a moment, he actually started to pick up the phone, for fear of what Ritz might do if she thought she he was ignoring her. Then he reminded himself that this was a recorded message and that he had already missed her call.

There was an impatient sigh as Ritz went on. "Look, before you do ANYTHING else, come straight to my house. I don't care when you get this message, just come straight here, okay? I need to talk to you, and it's VERY important. DON'T do anything else until you've talked to me. I'm not kidding, Marche. You come directly over here as soon as you get this message. I'll be up all night, so don't worry about waking me up. And DON'T let me find out that you went somewhere else. Trust me, you'll regret it."

Marche stared at the phone uncertainly for a few minutes. There were no other messages, and Ritz's was only five or six hours old. In truth, he would've preferred to find his family first, but he had no real leads, and Ritz did seem to either want or need his presence a great deal. He was still worried that their friendship might be a bit strained after their last confrontation, and he didn't want to risk damaging it further. Aside from Mewt, Ritz was the only friend he had, and Marche didn't want to lose her over something like this. When he looked at it that way, the choice was already made: he would go see Ritz first, and then worry about finding his mother and Doned. Maybe Ritz even had some information about their whereabouts, and that was why she had called. Somehow, though, he doubted that was all she had to tell him.

He had just started down the street when the phone began to ring within the house. Figuring he'd get the message when he got back, he kept going, and so he wasn't there when the answering machine clicked on.

"Marche Radiuju? This is Dr. Broadstone over at St. Ivalice General Hospital. I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news. Your brother Doned fell into a coma today, and as of now, he's stable with no sign of that changing any time soon. All the same, we need you to come and discuss his health care options for the immediate future. Please call us at your earliest convenience."

* * * * *

By the time Marche reached Ritz's house, it was a few minutes before midnight. Normally, he would've caught the bus over, but for some reason, the 11:35 hadn't shown up, and he'd finally made the trip on foot. Ritz had made it seem vital that she spoke with him as soon as was humanly possible, and that had been hours ago. She would probably be upset with him no matter when he arrived, even if she was staying up all night. Just the fact that she was willing to wait up that long indicated how important the conversation would be.

Marche's mind began to race as he started to ring the doorbell, then thought better of it and knocked quietly on the door. Most likely, she had something Ivalice-related to tell him; some little-known fact that he had overlooked when restoring their world to its rightful state.

The door flew open without warning, and for a frightening moment, Marche thought Ritz's grandmother had come to the door, angry about being woken up so late. Then he really looked, and his eyes widened in surprise. "…Ritz? Is that you?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next Chapter: Grief

Marche meets the new and improved Ritz, but she's not exactly overjoyed to see him…